In the field of cooking there are many surprising tricks, such as the key ingredient to make vegan meringues and chocolate mousse. These preparations can be framed within the kitchen of exploitation, since the truth is that they are prepared with a component that we always throw away: the water from the jars of chickpeas.
Jars of already cooked chickpeas are a very useful resource to get us out of more than one trouble. They save us a lot of time and effort in certain preparations, since this way we do not have to soak the chickpeas and cook them later. But before incorporating them into our recipes, they must be strained and rinsed to remove the liquid present in the jar. Well, once the chickpeas are strained, don’t throw away the liquid, because you can use it to make two delicious vegan desserts.
Traditional meringue is made with egg white, making it a recipe suitable for vegetarians, but not for vegans. What you probably didn’t know is that you can replace the egg with the liquid from the jar of chickpeas. This was revealed by TikTok user @lasrecetasdemimadre, with two million followers on this social network.
Add the liquid from the chickpeas to a container and beat them, you can use a hand mixer or a robot, using the whisks. Then, add sugar and the juice of one lemon. In this sense, you can squeeze a lemon or use the already squeezed juice sold in supermarkets. Continue beating on medium power until it reaches the consistency of meringue.
Pour the mixture into a pastry bag and make small meringues on a tray lined with baking paper. Bake your vegan meringues at a temperature of 100 degrees for 100 minutes to obtain the perfect consistency, crispy and not burning.
Another preparation to take advantage of the chickpea liquid in its sweetest version is to prepare a mousse. Again, beat the water in the jar of chickpeas with a whisk until it has the consistency of stiff egg whites.
Then, mix the chickpea juice with melted chocolate, whether dark, milk chocolate or white chocolate. Of course, if you opt for one of the latter two, it would be a vegetarian mousse instead of vegan. Once the mixture is smooth, pour it into small containers and let it cool in the refrigerator for about two or three hours.
